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Sa-Reshi
“Rot, decay, holy putrefaction, the downfall of empires and lay-lower of kings. That is who I am, child, and I shall spread throughout all the land, the unbelievers cast into the fetid pits to wallow and mingle their unworthy filth with that of my chosen.” Sa-Reshi is the God of Plague, Decay, and Rot. Almost perpetually cloaked in leaves that sprout and rot and fall off, carrying a war-scythe as a walking-cane, or a falx as a weapon, she travels the world looking for people who have yet to receive her gifts, people who still can be converted. Those that embrace her do so for a multitude of reasons, from seeking relief from sickness, to a lust for power, to simply falling in with her without truly realizing it, falling prey to one of her insidious Worm-cults. Sa-Reshi is a God who cares not for ability or lineage, only caring about the loyalty one feels to her. It does not matter if you are weak, if you are a serf, if you are strong, or a king, a minister, blind, eagle-eyed, all those traits are, to her, completely meaningless. All that Sa-Reshi cares about is the loyalty of the person who worships her, for she cannot abide backsliders or wavering faith. To commit to Sa-Reshi is to turn your entire life over to her, to ensure that you worship her and her alone in all things. Worship of Sa-Reshi Sa-Reshi requires sacrifice of meat, of tea, of bodies and livestock and plants, things to be laid down and left to rot and fester, for her to take notice. She requires her children be fed, the flies and worms to be content. She asks for those prospective priests and worshipers to give what they can, and understands that a serf cannot too often give a lot, and that a king can organize grand rituals. And thus, in keeping with her love of loyalty, she does not put too much stock the size, only the consistency. First and foremost, a pit must be dug, at least two feet deep. Then, that pit is surrounded with stones, skulls, sticks, any sort of border that marks it out as special. In there, anything that can decay is placed, and stagnant water is poured over, or hot tea, or a mix of both. Then, Sa-Reshi notices the new sacrifice made, and the new person who has been brought into her fold. Gifts of Sa-Reshi Sa-Reshi's followers, few as they may be, have loyalty demanded of them. Those who please her are given many gifts, from minor things such as passing-over when deadly plague devastates their neighbors, to the gift of being allowed to live upon her island-kingdom of Yersinia, where her most loyal of followers have lived for generations, living amongst her various immortal servants, in the carefully cultivated gardens and under her loving, and constant, watch. Sa-Reshi gives gifts of strength, of toughness, of unnatural resilience to injury and inoculation to pain, to those who take up arms in her name. To those who give themselves over to her, promising to grow and spread her pox, she may give the contradictory gift of total immunity from her plagues, allowing them to be carriers and spread her gifts far and wide without drawing attention to themselves. To those who do not travel, they may be given the beautiful Fruits of Sa-Reshi, misshaped mockeries of apples, oranges, coconuts, and more, deadly toxic to those who do not love her, but life-sustaining foods to those who do. Sa-Reshi will gift those particularly loyal to her, those servants who die in her name, martyred or slain in battle, with an immortality. Their souls will belong to her, not Majir, and thus instead of passing into Oblivion, they will be reborn, body, mind and soul, in Sa-Reshi's kingdom to serve her again. They claw themselves out from fetid pits, roaring and screaming, whimpering and crying, brought back to life through Sa-Reshi's love for them. Many will undergo the ritual of the Incubation, that is, hosting one of Sa-Reshi's chosen vermin within the body, those this obviously requires either near super-human will, or one of her previous gifts of numbing of pain. This is an honour, above almost all others, though it may kill the servant who undergoes it (thus allowing Sa-Reshi to decide if their life has been worth the gift of immortality), and certainly bars them from normal human society once the infestation progresses enough. Scions of Sa-Reshi The Scions of Sa-Reshi are manifold, as she is inherantly a creative goddess, albeit one who creates within a sphere of decay and putrefaction. From the mundane animals she has changed and morphed to fit her will, to the servants that became so zealous in their love that they have given up their humanity for her, to the Dread Worm of Sa-Reshi, her scions are legion. Blighted The Blighted are humans who have undergone the most extreme of self-mortifications in Sa-Reshi's name. Willingly they threw themselves into the sacrificial pits, wallowing in the blessed decay until their bodies fell apart. When this happens, Sa-Reshi captures their soul and embraces it, perfecting the human and bringing them to the state of blissful enlightenment that only a Scion can feel. They are not demigods, they are not mortal servants, they are not the resurrected dead, but they are something between the three. Bone is exposed by necrotic skin, bloated and infected patches of their body seem close to sloughing off, flies and rats buzz and scurry around them endlessly, and their weapons drip with foul toxins the likes of which few medicine-men have even heard of, let alone can cure. The Blighted go forwards, carrying censers and singing chants to Sa-Reshi, their band disorganized, but not at all ineffective. Unblighted A rare variation of the Blighted, unlike most of Sa-Reshi's servants, the Unblighted are nearly-pure humans, distinct only in their allegiance to Sa-Reshi and immortality. They are charged with the task of infecting society, of hiding among the unworthy and spreading the gifts of Sa-Reshi. With vials of poison and God-made herbs and plants, they often pose as doctors, midwives, merchants, any role that gets them close with people, able to spread Sa-Reshi's gift. To be an Unblighted is to be trusted with the most covert and secretive of missions, and for that reason, it is only the greatest and most skilled of servants who will achieve this state. Often, they will come from the ranks of the Blighted, to be paradoxically healed of their sickness for the sole purpose of spreading it further. Pestile Worms The Pestile Worms are large, burrowing creatures, a mix between grub and earthworm. When fully extended, they are the size of a man, growing larger with age. The largest of Pestile Worms, known as Defiler Worms, are the size of houses, able to swallow men whole and collapse walls with their tunneling. The Pestile Worms' skin is acidic and leathery, their touch melting stone and corroding metal. Their maws are circular, filled with sharp teeth that can extend out from the mouth, and pull things inwards. Twenty pairs of legs line their bottom, and eight black eyes line their top. They make distinct chittering noises when above ground, using their mouths, acid spit and slime, and short claws on their legs to fight. Great Wyrm of Sa-Reshi Big Worm. Category:Gods Category:Sa-Reshi